Burnout
by northernspy1
Summary: Adam's always being underappreciated by the rest of the team. So what happens when things get REALLY heated... and nobody's there to help? Please R&R.
1. Pressure

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Adam stared at the computer screen in front of him, straining to keep his eyes open. The words blurred in front of his eyes. "_Ugh,_" he thought, blinking to clear his vision. He hadn't slept in two weeks. Not that anybody noticed; they were all too busy with their own problems to notice how tired he was.

Suddenly, a loud noise startled him. The smoke alarm was going off. Before he had time to panic, Stella walked in and said it was a mistake. Adam nodded. There had been a citywide power outage recently and lots of the electronics were messed up. That was why the results he was looking for were taking so long, but of course nobody but _he_ knew that. She looked at him for a moment and said "Make sure you get those results in to me as soon as possible." He nodded again and she left, then he set his head on his hand and thought about napping.

Unfortunately, Danny had chosen that exact moment to walk in and ask about the trace they had found on a murder victim. Adam didn't have it yet, so Danny walked out, but not without reminding him for the sixty-somethingth time that he needed those results _as soon as possible_. Didn't he understand he'd get them when they came, not before?

But it wasn't as if there was any way out of it, he was just a lab rat, not a cop. As far as they were concerned, he was there to find things out for them and not cause any trouble. Apparently sleeping at night was a form of trouble, because with all the work they gave him he sure didn't do much of that these days. He knew what the lack of sleep was doing to him. He found himself spending fewer nights at home and more at work. But who was he to complain? It would only irritate them.

Adam looked at his watch. It was 6:30pm, he wanted to go home, but the results still weren't it, so he rested his head on the table in front of him and let sleep close around him. A few minutes later, or so he thought, a loud racket woke him up. The smoke alarm again. He looked at his watch and cursed under his breath. 10:30pm; he had been asleep for four hours. He walked out into the lab and looked around. It was deserted; everyone had gone home. Even Mac had left without asking him if he would be finished work soon. He sighed and got on a chair to turn off the alarm.

Shaking his head, he went back to his work station. Why did nobody understand? Why was he always the last one to leave work, when everyone else got to just leave their unfinished work until tomorrow? Why was he the one who was expected to get the answer immediately, no questions asked? Dropping back into his chair, he decided that what he needed now more than ever was sleep, so he set his head on the table and drifted into unconsciousness.

So, naturally, he didn't take notice of the red-hot flames on the other side of the door.


	2. Danger

In his dream, Adam was walking through a huge redwood forest, swinging an ax along beside him. The sunlight was beautiful, the air was crisp and fresh, and there was nobody around to bother him. He stopped at a massive redwood and looked at its thick, wide trunk. Raising the ax, he swung it as hard as he could and listened as it connected sharply with the hard wood. The crack resonated loudly throughout the forest. Repeatedly he swung it, marveled by the intense _crack_ of each hit, and curious as to why, in such clean air, it was getting hard for him to breath.

Suddenly he woke up. The entire room was filled with smoke and flames. His heart started to pound, but he didn't dare hyperventilate. He fell out of his chair onto the floor and covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve. He heard voices yelling, accompanied by a loud hacking sound at the lab door. He tried to stand up, but not being able to see caused him to hit his head on the desk. Cursing, he swung his other arm around, feeling it collide with the chair. The chair rolled back quickly into the glass wall which, under all the heat, began to shatter. Adam rolled onto his back just as he felt a large piece of the ceiling collapse onto his chest. All his breath left him in that instant; he felt helpless. Helpless to react as more pieces of debris fell around him; as the firemen finally hacked their way through the door; as the burning flames surrounded him, burning him, nearly engulfing him.

His vision was blurry and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as he felt himself falling unconscious; the fireman dragging him out from under the wreckage; bringing him outside to a waiting ambulance. He passed out on the ride to the hospital, but he thought he vaguely remembered seeing a stunned looking Mac standing in the crowd outside the building.

"_He's waking up… don't push me… he's gonna be ok…_" six voices were all talking at once, and it was starting to give him a headache. He opened his eyes a crack and saw Danny, Mac, Stella, Flack, Lindsey and Hawkes standing at the foot of the hospital bed, arguing quietly with each other. He heard the steady beeping of a heart monitor and, out of the corner of his eye, spotted an IV tube sticking out of his arm. Blinking, he sat up a bit. The arguing stopped abruptly as they all looked at him in relief and delight. Hawkes walked over and smiled at him sadly.

"Six broken ribs and third degree burns to thirty-two percent of your body, you're lucky to be alive my friend," he said, gently high-fiving him. He looked down and saw part of his left leg, his left shoulder, and his right hand and forearm were wrapped in bandages. His chest felt like someone were stabbing him over and over, so he lay back down.

Mac was staring at him, a look of concern in his eyes. "So I suppose you'll be taking a few days off then," he said, in an "it's-about-time" voice. Adam, however, didn't hear the sarcastic touch and struggled to sit up.

"No, no, I'm fine you guys need my help—"Mac held up his hand, silencing the stuttering Adam.

"I can safely assure you we are fully capable of doing the work. And in any case you're probably going to be in a wheelchair for a while so you won't be going into the field much," he assured the younger man, and then added, "Although I must say since it was you're staying at the lab so much that put you in danger, perhaps we should take you out more." Adam shook his head, and then the full realization of what was said sunk in.

"A-a… a wheelchair?" he stammered. Mac nodded. Adam felt like a huge weight had just been dropped on his shoulders. How much help would he be if he was stuck in a wheelchair?

Danny appeared next to the bed, put his hand on Adam's shoulder, and said in that sympathetic voice of his, "Take it from me bro, you're gonna be fine." He smiled, and Adam felt like the whole world had just gotten brighter at that moment.

Stella said, "C'mon everybody, let's let him sleep." They exited the room, each smiling at him as they went. He sat back in bed and sighed. And smiled.


End file.
